Sunday, June 10, 2012

UK - the high cost of roaming to South Africa, which is not capped by the new Roaming III Regulation

This is Money notes the introduction of a retail price cap from Roaming III. It also warns:

But in the few weeks before that, the rates remain punitively high. And even after the new rules kick in, they will apply only to EU countries, leaving holidaymakers in other destinations risking huge bills, frequently of hundreds of pounds.

It reports a story of one UK resident visiting South Africa:

Fiona Chow, 33, of Wandsworth, south-west London, was hit with a £187 bill after a holiday in South Africa earlier this year.

Fiona, who works in marketing for an online ticket seller, says: ‘It was a real bolt from the blue. I had made sure I did not use the phone for any calls to limit charges. I only used my iPhone to occasionally check on my emails, log on to Facebook once and use a travel app a few times to find restaurants.’

Fiona has a phone package with 02 that included unlimited data downloads in Britain – but not abroad. 02 charges £6 per MB in South Africa.

Of course, one option is to buy a local SIM card in South Africa and use a pre-paid option to control spending.